Life-saving suit.



T. MATTHEWS. LIFE SAVING SUIT.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 25, 1912.

Patented Dec. 30,1913.

7 mimvr'on ATTORIIEY 120m mews} THOMAS MATTHEWS, 0F BROOKLYN, NEWYOBK.

LIFE-SAVING SUIT.

Specification of Letters Patent Patented Dec. 30, 1913,

Application filed October 25, 1912. Serial No. 727,655.

T0 all whom it may concern v Be it known that I, THOMAS MAT HEWS, a citizen of'the United States, and resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Life-Saving Suits, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to life saving devices and more especially to suits which are made of waterproof material, so as to completely envelop the body and limbs of the wearer, in order to exclude the water, and to be lined with woolen or other heat confining fabric, so that the individual using the suit may remain in freezing Water for hours without freezing or experiencing any serious inconvenience.

These and other objects and details of the invention will be more fully explained in the following specification, set forth in the claim, and illustrated in the drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 shows the suit .on the wearer; Fig. 2 is a view of the suit removed from the wearer; Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of the suit at about the chest.

A very serious danger to persons thrown into the Water and especially during that part of the year when the water is near freezing temperature is that the individual, if not drowned, is apt to die from the cold, if not immediately removed from the water. This is often the case with hunters using frail boats, or with passengers on ocean liners deficient in floating life saving appliances, and although the parties thrown into the water may have life belts, they are not protected from the killing temperature.

The present invention is designed to overcome this difficulty by providing a water proof and water tight suit and lining it with a material which will prevent the coldness of the water from cooling'the body of the wearer. The suit will also be provided with corks or otherbuoyant means, especially around the chest to not only float the wearer but to retain him in an upright position in the water.

The suit is ordinarily made to closely fit the form of the wearer, completely incasing the feet and legs and having'a hood 5 for the head. The arms 6 may be open at their extremities and have flexible cuffs/T to close the space about the wrists and exclude the water, while pockets 8 are provided at the front, and also at the back, if necessary, for the slabs of cork 9 or other buoyant substances, or the suit may be provided with a pneumatic belt, to be blown up after the suit is put on.

The front of the suit is provided with a placket at its front with eyelets along the edges to carry a lacing cord 10, by which the placket may be closed and retained in that.

condition to complete the arrangement of the suit. \Vithin the placket is a rubber sheeting l1 to prevent the entrance of water atthat point. This practically excludes all chance of water cntrance except at the neck,

where the fit may be tightenough to pre-.

vent the entrance of water at that point.

The hands may be left uncovered, so that they may be employed to put on thesuit and close the plackct and lace and tie the same.

The interior of the suit may be provided with a lining 12 of wool or other comfortable fabric to exclude the cold and retain the heat. of the body'. \Vater tight closures may be adopted toexclude the water around the wrists and neck to prevent the lining frcmavctting and cooling the wearer. It is obvious that the suit may be otherwise altered or modified without departing from the essential features above described.

What .I claim new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a life saving suit, the combination with a water proof suit having a heat retaining lining and a placket, of lacing means at the placket, a filling piece at the placket, a hood integral with the suit and having similar lining, pockets at the chest of the suit, floats for the pockets, and flexible cuffs.

. Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this 26th day of Sept, A. D. 1912.

THOMAS MATTHEWS.

lVitnesses:

W. E. Lawson, v JAMEs F. DUI-IAMEL. 

